Spy games are a family affair in the new international trailer for Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Chris Pine and Keira Knightley's marriage gets wrapped up in a complex web of international spy intrigue, and spy intrigue in Hollywood means a lot of stuff getting shot at and blown up.
CIA analyst and desk jockey Jack Ryan (Pine) must go operational to stop the nefarious plans of Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh), whose Russian accent tells you he's the bad guy behind all of the global corporate evil going on. Kevin Costner plays Jack's steely CIA handler.
Haywire
Directed by Steven Soderbergh Screenplay by Lem Dobbs
Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Michael Angarano, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas
How long is Haywire? 93 minutes. What is Haywire rated? R for some violence.
CLR Rating:
Michael Fassbender and Gina Carano in Haywire
Haywire is a very solid and well-crafted contribution to the spy genre, with a smart and complex script from Lem Dobbs (who worked with Soderbergh on Kafka and The Limey). However, the film’s real fun comes from playing “Spot the Soderbergh Reference.” Filmmakers do not exist in a vacuum; inevitably they are going to borrow from another film or director at some point in their career. Quentin Tarantino is the most unabashed example of this trend and with each new Tarantino film myriad websites jockey to point out which movies he is paying tribute to in his new project.
In Haywire, though, Soderbergh has created an almost Frankenstein-esque amalgamation of his previous films. Watching Haywire is like watching a Soderbergh Greatest Hits compilation. For each of his international locations, Soderbergh manipulates the film’s color palette to differentiate the settings and emotions (Traffic). Many of the scenes, especially those indoors where the outside is visible through a window, are filmed with a soft focus lens giving the scene an ethereal calm (The Informant!). Soderbergh chose a female non-actor (Carano) who is famous in her chosen profession as his protagonist (The Girlfriend Experience) and tailored the part to her strengths. (He even goes so far as to re-create one scene from The Girlfriend Experience.) Most obvious is the music from David Holmes which is almost indistinguishable from the Ocean’s Twelve score, written by David Holmes. The list goes on.
Does this diminish the film’s overall success? Not at all. Soderbergh is clearly having fun behind the camera, throwing everything he can think of at the audience. The most impressive (and refreshing) aspect of the film is how Soderbergh chose to cut the film’s numerous fight sequences. Or, more accurately, chose not to cut them. In films like The Bourne Identity and its imitators, we are inundated with average shot lengths of less than one second, making it difficult to actually see what is happening. In Haywire, Soderbergh essentially sets the camera down and walks away. The fights are therefore so much more brutal to watch as we see every punch, kick, throw and slam with perfect clarity.
Which leads us to Carano. Having already dominated the world of female mixed martial arts (MMA), Carano easily assumes the role of ass-kicking special operative Mallory Kane. Almost like a 21st century “Man With No Name,” Mallory only speaks when absolutely necessary. Carano is surprisingly convincing given she has no acting experience prior to this film. Her cold stare is quite intimidating and she carries herself in a way one would expect from a Marine with years of experience.
Joining Carano is a supporting cast of absolutely fantastic actors. McGregor deserves a great deal of praise for his performance as Mallory’s duplicitous boss and the man every audience member will want to strangle. He is the perfect mixture of charm and smugness. Fassbender, who seems to be in every movie these days, is also terrific. We are never quite sure of Paul’s motives or what he is thinking and Fassbender betrays nothing with his constantly shifting facial expressions and confident smile.
Posted December 27th, 2011, 1:12 PM by Matt Singer
Continuing our list from yesterday here are five more of the best genre movies of 2011. Click over for our picks for the best romance, Western, horror film, legal thriller, and comic book movie. Today it’s time for the best spy movie, cop movie, sports movie, mystery, and science-fiction. Let’s do it.
The Best Spy Movie of the Year
“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” (In IMAX)
Directed by Brad Bird
Even fans of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” would admit the film is more of a character study about spies than a true spy movie. For real genre thrills, I’m going with something bigger: much bigger. “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” delivered everything we’ve come to expect from this series — high-tech gadgets, ferocious fights, Tom Cruise running — on a grander scale than ever before. Director Brad Bird’s IMAX action scenes, especially one dazzling, dangling sequence atop the tallest building in the world, were absolutely stunning. Badass Digest’s Devin Faraci makes some excellent observations about the gaping holes in the film’s story. So why isn’t anyone talking about them? Because people get so caught up in “Ghost Protocol”‘s enormous imagery they don’t have time to think.
he Best Sports Movie of the Year
“Warrior”
Directed by Gavin O’Connor
This might be the most inexplicable flop of the year. “Warrior” was a shameless crowd-pleaser, with twice the underdogs of your typical underdog sports movie, but for some reason the crowds never showed up to be pleased. Maybe the lack of a bankable star kept people away, but the lack of a bankable star meant two very good young actors, Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy, got to play the lead roles of Brendan and Tommy Conlon, estranged brothers who both enter the same mixed martial arts tournament in search of a big cash prize. The final fight felt seriously anticlimactic and Nick Nolte goes a bit overboard in his alcoholic suffering at times, but the rest of this movie is just about perfect. Any sports movie would be blessed to have a lead character as good as Hardy’s or Edgerton’s. This one has both. If I had to bank on one 2011 movie slowly becoming a massive word-of-mouth hit on DVD and Blu-ray, I’d pick “Warrior.” It could easily become this decade’s “Shawshank Redemption.” Read my full review here.
The Best Cop Movie of the Year
“The Guard”
Directed by John Michael McDonagh
The buddy cop movie has had its up and downs in recent years but it rose from the ashes like a phoenix who was getting too old for this shit with the comedy “The Guard.” Brendan Gleeson delivers a brilliant performance as Sgt. Gerry Boyle, a small town Irish cop who stumbles, accidentally and disinterestedly, onto a drug smuggling ring. He teams with an American FBI agent (Don Cheadle, whose Southern accent is the one weak spot in the film) and together they make a classic pair of mismatched partners. “The Guard” was written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, brother of “In Bruges” filmmaker Martin McDonagh. I suspect if you liked the latter, you’ll dig the former, which has a similarly picaresque setting and dark sense of humor. Listen to my full review here.
The Best Mystery of the Year
“Cold Weather”
Directed by Aaron Katz
Mysteries are all about finding things in unlikely places and the DIY, improvisational genre of mumblecore is probably the last place in moviedom you’d expect to find a good whodunit. Yet here is Aaron Katz’s “Cold Weather,” a very successful experiment in marrying the off-the-cuff mumblecore aesthetic with the rigid structure of a drawing room mystery. A college dropout with an interest in forensic science and Sherlock Holmes novels moves back home to Portland and gets a job in an ice factory. An old flame comes to visit then seemingly disappears. Was she kidnapped? Or even murdered? While Hollywood turned Sherlock Holmes into a six packed, speed ramping action hero, Katz proved you don’t need any of that to tell a compelling story. All you need are a few interesting characters, one good brainteaser, and a pipe. Read my full review here.
The Best Sci-Fi Movie of the Year
“Attack the Block”
Directed by Joe Cornish
There was plenty of callbacks to old movies in “Attack the Block,” including 80s gang flicks like “The Warriors” and “Streets of Fire,” but the film was far more creative than your typical nostalgia pastiche. Even the design of the “gorilla-wolf” aliens that crash into a giant South London housing complex was refreshing (if something with glowing, razor-sharp teeth and a hunger for human flesh can be termed “refreshing”). Director Joe Cornish’s dazzling debut film was light on science but heavy on scares and humor, and it featured a cast of charismatic misfit kids who made the Goonies look like the Muppet Babies. Buried beneath the laughs and scares, there are even some powerful themes about personal responsibility and the dehumanizing nature of life in the projects. Believe, bruv: this movie deserved better than its $1.0 million domestic gross. Read my full review here.
There's a moment in the new version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy when George Smiley, the retired intelligence agent, is on a stakeout. He's perched in a room, waiting for his prey when the target approaches. He carefully slips off his shoes, putting black socks to hardwood.
Here's where fans of the original book by John le Carré might find their pulse quickening.
It's a bit of the ol' tradecraft: the special skill set Carré hinted at in his espionage novels. And yet, the shoe shedding is just a tease for the next time we see Smiley he's sitting at the table having a civilized chat with his intended target. That is the gist of this cinematic version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: short on tradecraft, but no shortage of staring matches
The passivity of John Le Carré's grey warrior will come as no surprise to fans of the original. The author created George Smiley as an ultimate anti-Bond. When the world was buzzing over the hairy-chested charm of Sean Conney as 007, Carré brought us into the twisty warren of the Circus -- the nickname for the British Secret Intelligence Service, aka MI6. While the Cold War played on in the background, Smiley fought legions of administrators, managers and, occasionally, actual spies.
He may not have had a Rolex that could shoot lasers, but Smiley's wits were always razor sharp. He could stand in the door of house that had been burgled and pick up the scent of the intruder lingering in the air. As the new Smiley, Gary Oldman retains the character's watchfulness. It's a quiet performance, where a single raised eyebrow is an emotional climax.
The story is one of the oldest in the spy game: Whack-a-Mole. With the death of his handler, Control (John Hurt), the retired Smiley is tasked with revealing the double agent Control suspected had burrowed his way to the top of MI6. Other than a sting gone wrong that begins Tinker Tailor, much of what follows is men sitting in rooms and talking.
Colin Firth is a bright spot in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. (eOne Films)
If there was an Oscar for the most horrible 1970s furnishings and colour scheme, Tinker Tailor would have the category nailed. Alfredson paints the screen with a thousand shades of brown and a rich tapestry of questionable combovers. The MI6 brain trust meet in a soundproof orange room where their tweed suits pop perfectly against the marmalade walls.
The best of Smiley's suspects (codenamed Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) is Bill, played with a smirk by Oscar-winner Colin Firth. In this land of drab, he's practically Lady Gaga, as he winks at secretaries while clad in a velvet trench that looks stitched together from scalped teddy bears.
The fab fashions are just part of the hazy nostalgia and paranoia hanging over Tinker Tailor. In one particular scene, a friend wistfully recalls the good times before Smiley reminders her they took place during the war. But that's life in the Circus, where -- with no clear opponents to fight -- the agents target each other.
There are a few moments that break up the monotony, including a particularly a powerful interrogation on an airfield as the propellers roar closer. It stands apart because it's one of the few scenes where there's some genuine malice in the air.
Taken as a whole, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy is a bit of cipher itself: a movie made up of hints and omissions. You'll have to conduct your own investigation on what didn't make the cut.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5
Gary Oldman stars in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. (eOne Films)
With the US release of the espionage thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy tomorrow, I thought I would look back over the years and bring together a list of my top ten favorite British spy movies.
Take a look at the list of films I have chosen then let me know if you agree with my choices in the comments section below.
10. Goldfinger
When you think of British spy films, who else could possibly spring to mind before James Bond? With his dapper suits and alluring charm he’s a man who oozes with cool. Never has this been more apparent than in Goldfinger in which Sean Connery is at his very best as the iconic agent. Perhaps it’s dated a little bit, but that trademark look and those classic scenes will never grow old.
09. The Deadly Affair
The recently deceased Sidney Lumet, director of Dog Day Afternoon and 12 Angry Men, adapted this John Le Carre story for the big screen in 1966. It’s hardly his greatest work, but it’s nonetheless a tremendously engaging portrait of British intelligence’s battle with communism. It’s got all the mystery, intrigue and political undertones you would want in a Le Carre plot excellently handled by Lumet and well performed by its cast.
08. The Ipcress File
A young Michael Caine stars in this mystery movie about a spy trying to discover why scientists are being kidnapped and brainwashed. It all sounds a bit silly, but in practice this is a wonderfully low-key, suspenseful little spy flick and the best of the Harry Palmer series. Caine is predictably excellent in the lead role too.
07. Contraband
This early film from legendary Powell and Pressburger is as smart, wry, sexy and engaging as anything Alfred Hitchcock made during his prime. Set in the early days of wartime Britain during the blackouts, it’s a film that few have seen but really deserves to be discovered. It’s an incredibly entertaining flick.
06. The Man Who Knew Too Much
It may only run over an hour in length, but The Man Who Knew Too Much is the film that put Alfred Hitchcock on the map. It was this film that got him recognized by Hollywood and set the master of suspense firmly on his path to success. It’s fast, witty and a perfect example of the world’s greatest film-maker finding his feet.
05. Casino Royale
The finest of all the James Bond films, Casino Royale finally decided to ditch the traditional, by-the-book approach to how you make a Bond film and instead aspired to just be a terrific piece of action cinema. And my goodness, does it succeed. The story is top-notch with an excellently unique performance from Daniel Craig giving what was previously a tired franchise a huge boost of adrenaline.
04. The Lady Vanishes
Still one of the finest films Alfred Hitchcock made, The Lady Vanishes displays great dialogue, excellent acting and a fantastic sense of humour in a way that makes the film impossible not to adore. It will never be recognized in the way that Vertigo and North By Northwest are, but it really does rival them for entertainment.
03. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Anyone off to see the latest adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy this weekend is in for a treat as it’s easily one of the finest British spy films ever made. Its stunning cast all bring their A-game to the table in this suspenseful tale of a retired agent trying to find a mole at the top of MI5. But the most interesting aspect is how it switches the gloss of James Bond to uproot the murky underbelly of British espionage, painting its story on a canvas of mistrust, deception and double-crossing. It’s mesmerizing stuff from beginning to end. Our review is here.
02. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
Like Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, there is little fun to be had in this early John Le Carre adaptation. There is no spectacle, glamour or excitement here. Instead, what you get in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is a bleak insight into Cold War espionage; a colourless world void of warmth and charm that will inevitably drain you as you consume it. Nonetheless, though it’s tough to watch, this Oscar nominee was a profoundly brave step in a new direction during an era in which James Bond was at its most popular. It, therefore, makes for one of the most accomplished spy movies ever.
01. The 39 Steps
Film history was made in 1935 when Alfred Hitchcock, at the time a little known, run of the mill film director, received a contract to bring a low budget spy thriller to the big screen. He launched himself at the film and used the opportunity to provide his studio with a masterpiece of the genre, establishing his reputation as the master of suspense. From motifs and MacGuffins to dark comedy and intriguing characters it’s a quintessential Hitchcock movie that remains among his finest work ever.
Colin Firth is a bright spot in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. (eOne Films)
Gary Oldman stars in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. (eOne Films)